You have officially made it to week 2 of our exercise ball series! There will be one more exercise after this and then out thirty day challenge. I figure we should have an “easy” month so that we can enjoy this summer weather! So, this week we are going to do the jackknife exercise. This one is a lot of fun and will challenge your coordination and balance. As you know I lack both of those so this move is especially fun for me LOL. SO how do we do it?

Bring the exercise ball as close to you as possible. Get into push up position and gently place your legs on the exercise ball. Your shins should be on the ball and your body should be straight. Try not to arch your back. Make sure to take some time to get your balance on the ball. Your arms should be straight and you should now look like A. Now, I am serious about getting your balance all set before doing this next part…trust me it is easy to fall if you are a spaz like me 🙂

Ok, so now you are ready for the next part. Make sure that you keep good form during this and do not allow yourself to sag or arch your back. Pull the exercise ball forward with your feet and move the mall toward your chest. You should look like B. Pause and then push the ball back to starting position. That is it! That is one rep. Add 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps to your workout. Good luck!!

Over the weekend my brother gave me a recipe for these amazingly delicious cauliflower bites that he made when he was in school. Apparently during his life skills class they made all these different and easy recipes and this was one of the ones that he kept. And after trying this recipe myself I could see why he loved….and so I decided to share.The recipe is right off the Frank’s RedHotwebsite recipe but I will be honest….I only had Texas Pete’s hot sauce and it was still really good. So if I were you I would just use your favorite bottle of hot sauce. Enjoy!!

This has to be one of my favorite quotes, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” The reason that it resonates so deeply with me is because ….well, it is true. You will have people in your life that will try and make you feel like you are less than what you are. They will attempt to make you feel dumb, ugly, worthless, you name it and it will be done to you. It is really sad, but unless you live in a Disney movie this is just part of life….The trick is that you have the power to stop it. No, I am not saying you can stop THEM, but you can stop their words or actions from affecting you.

It is a hard thing to do but you can do it. When someone starts to make you question who you are, or makes you feel bad about yourself remember that this is just their own insecurities in action. They may feel insecure and the only way they can feel better is by making someone else feel worse than they do. So what do you do when this happens? Remember that their words are not a reflection of you, but of them. Remind yourself of how wonderful you are and do not pay attention to what they are saying. Do not give them the power to make you feel badly about yourself.

No one has the right to speak to you in a negative fashion. Sometimes you will have to bite your tongue and walk away, other times you need to speak. It may seem hard to know which one to choose, but the first thing you have to realize is that you are important and you matter. No one has power over your, nor should they. If they want to rant then let them, but do not allow them to feel like you are nothing. Their anger has everything to do with their own personal struggles and not with you. Do not let anyone ever make you feel horrible just because they themselves feel horrible.